The present invention relates to 1-carbalkoxyalkyl-3-aryloxy-4-(2'-carbalkoxyphenyl)-azetidin-2-ones activity as plant growth regulators and as herbicides.
The commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 225,886 of Francis J. Freenor III discloses compounds of the formula: ##STR3## wherein R is hydrogen or alkyl of 1 to 3 carbon atoms; R.sup.1 is hydrogen, alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, alkoxy of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, alkythio of 1 to 6 carbon atoms or NR.sup.1 R.sup.2 wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently hydrogen or alkyl of 1 to 12 carbon atoms; and X.sup.1, X.sup.2, X.sup.3 and X.sup.4 are independently hydrogen, chloro, bromo, fluoro, iodo, alkyl of 1 to 4 carbon atoms or alkoxy of 1 to 4 carbon atoms, which are active as plant growth regulators.
The commonly assigned patent application Ser. No. 391,798 of Tatao Luo, Louis Russo and Francis J. Freenor III now U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,372 discloses 1-lower alkyl derivatives of 3-aryloxy-4-(2-carbalkoxy)-phenyl-azet-2-one compounds of the formula: ##STR4## wherein R.sub.1 is methyl or ethyl; R.sub.2 is lower alkyl; and X.sub.1 and X.sub.2 are independently hydrogen or halogen which are active as plant growth regulators.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,181,800 discloses a large group of anti-microbial 2-azetidinone compounds of the general formula: ##STR5## wherein R.sup.1 is amino, substituted amino, substituted hydroxy, azido or halogen; R.sup.2 is hydrogen, hydroxymethyl, aralkoxyaminomethyl, aryl, aralkenyl, formyl, carboxy, or a residue of a nucleophile; and R.sup.3 is a group of the formula: ##STR6## wherein R.sup.4 is aryl, aralkyl, arylthioalkyl or a heterocyclic group; R.sup.5 is carboxy or its derivative; R.sup.6 is alkyl, haloalkyl, arylthio or heterocyclic-thioalkyl; and R.sup.7 is hydrogen, haloalkyl or heterocyclic-thioalkyl; (subject to various provisos). The compounds are disclosed as useful antibiotics for treating microbial infections in mammals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,234 discloses a large class of anti-microbial 4-unsubstituted azetidinone compounds which have the general formula: ##STR7## wherein R.sub.1 is amino or acylamino; and A is hydrogen or the group: ##STR8## wherein R.sup.x is hydrogen; R.sup.Y is, in pertinent part, hydrogen or alkyl of up to 6 carbon atoms; and R.sup.2 is, in pertinent part, carboxy, hydroxy, amino, cyano, or alkyl of up to 6 carbon atoms substituted by carboxy or a salt thereof. These compounds are disclosed as useful as antibiotics to treat microbial infections in mammals.